How much rest should I be taking between my workouts?

April 2, 2020 by Richard Cohen

First of all; I’m stoked with the fact that you
are training so frequently and consistently that you are thinking about the
next workout, so good for you!

Along with regular exercise and eating nutrient
rich food, recovery plays just as an important role in getting results in your
health and fitness journey, as our ability to recover from the physical
stresses due to exercises, determines how much intensity, frequency and volume
of exercise our bodies can handle.

Not only this but did you know that
incorporating an appropriate recovery session as part of your weekly workout
schedule, will also help you stimulate your growth hormone and reduce stress
levels, so that you can build more lean muscle tissue and reduce stubborn body
fat whilst keeping you mentally strong and managing your emotions?

Sleep deprivation
causes changes to hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. The hormone
leptin suppresses appetite and encourages the body to expend energy. Sleep deprivation
reduces leptin. … And lack of sleep makes you more likely to
eat more of your overall calories at night, which can lead to weight
gain.

A fascinating study from researchers at the
University of Colorado found that one week of sleeping about 5 hours a
night led participants to gain an average of 2 pounds.

Like many of my busy executive clients, who
travel extensively for their work, managing large teams, catching up on
paperwork at night and prepping for the next day, this can quickly become the
norm.

It’s not just sleep that plays a major role in
recovery, the type of workout you are doing matters too.

During training, I always check in with my clients
to understand what intensity level (The perceived lever of exertion usually
measured between 1-10 when performing an exercise) they are in at that moment.

On some occasions, I might have a client who is
usually deadlifting 130kg for 5 reps at a level 7, and on another day I might
see them struggling for 1 rep and they are at level 8 or 9.

It’s at this moment I can check in with the
recovery part of the training to see how that has played a role in their
performance.

Other aspects of your workouts that play a major
role in determining frequency is volume of workouts (the density or amount of
sets and reps performed during an exercise).

Our volume of training also needs to be taken
into consideration, volume is crazy important to our overall health.

Endurance has been shown to increase brain
serotonin, endurance athletes are smart!

Why do you think all these Ironman races are
full of high powered executives paying $500 to enter a race and riding bikes
that cost more than most decent cars?

According to (Anish, Eric J. MD), Brain
serotonin levels have been shown to be highly dependent upon plasma free
tryptophan, which serves as a metabolic precursor of serotonin. Plasma free
tryptophan levels increase when the concentration of plasma free fatty acids are
elevated. Because endurance exercise increases plasma free fatty acid levels,
such activity may enhance the entry of tryptophan into the CNS via the
blood-brain barrier, elevating brain serotonin levels.

Volume can also have its downsides, as too much
volume too quickly, will have reverse effects.

Usually leading to overtraining or “Burn
out” injuries as fatigue overcomes good quality technique, which then
usually leads into hip, lower back, foot or knee issues.

Lastly another important component to recovery,
will be your actual recovery tools and techniques….sorry that’s a mistake,
what I meant to say was your adherence to the practice of using your recovery
tools and techniques.😉

Over the past 5 years or so, the health &
fitness industry has witnessed a massive boom in the use of foam rollers,
trigger point massage balls, cupping, massage guns and soft tissue release
techniques.

The scientific break through’s in engineering of
these tools is amazing and we are so lucky to have these at our disposal, throw
those tools in with an abundance of great YouTube videos on how to use them
correctly, a recovery strategy has never been easier to implement into your
lifestyle than right now.

Spending 15 mins per day on soft tissue work,
especially before a workout will increase your chances of recovery by time by
upto 50%!

According to MacDonald et al. (2014) foam
rolling can also decrease delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) Delayed Onset
Muscle Soreness that is due to intensive training. Within the foam
rolling group the peak DOMS was seen 24-hours after exercise as within the
control group the peak was at 48-hours post-training. The DOMS was also higher
for the control group at all post-training time points (24- and 48-hours)

The barrier to success with foam rolling or soft
tissue work is that it; just bloody hurts!

When you do it, it feels uncomfortable and
awkward and when we feel that way we are a lot less likely to be motivated to
want to do it, there is no pleasure without an element of pain!

To summarise; for most of us who want to
increase our fitness levels, look and feel younger, have more energy and
increase our lean muscle whilst shredding any stubborn fat and becoming happier
people.

Engaging in a good variety of exercise and
activities that promote a mixture of low intensity endurance like walking or
jogging, a periodised and progressive weight lifting program including lifting
at lower heavier sets, coupled together with shorter, frequent bouts of high
intensity training.

Will give you the space and freedom to exercise
more regularly, improve your mental and physical health while helping you to
achieve the body goals you desire.